The Way We Were

At most performances of “Swan Lake” and “The Sleeping Beauty,” you’ll see the words “after Petipa” in the program. That’s Marius Petipa, who headed Russia’s Imperial Ballet in the second half of the nineteenth century. As for the “after,” how long after? As part of the Guggenheim’s “Works & Process” series (May 13-14), the dance historian and reconstructor Doug Fullington, with help from members of Pacific Northwest Ballet, where he is based, will reveal some surprises. The three death-defying fish dives in the Act III duet of “The Sleeping Beauty” (1890)—in which Aurora hurls herself, head first, into the prince’s arms—could be seen as Petipa’s response to the bravura of the Italian dancers at this time (the first Aurora was Carlotta Brianza, from Milan) or as a product of Petipa’s dramatic genius: Aurora is showing that she now trusts the prince, which is good, since she’s about to marry him. But Petipa didn’t create those steps. They were added in 1921. Fullington’s two shows are sold out, but you can see the performances live on ustream.tv/worksandprocess. ♦

Joan Acocella has been a staff writer at The New Yorker since 1995. She served as the magazine’s dance critic from 1998 to 2019. She is the author of, most recently, “Twenty-eight Artists and Two Saints.”